Constellations: Reflections From Life - Hardcover

Gleeson, Sinéad

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1509892737 ISBN 13: 9781509892730

Publisher: Picador, 2019

Synopsis

Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize
Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Biography Prize
The Number One Irish Bestseller

'Utterly magnificent. Raw, thought-provoking and galvanising; this is a book every woman should read.' Eimear McBride, author of A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing.

'Outstanding . . . demands to be heard' Observer

I have come to think of all the metal in my body as artificial stars, glistening beneath the skin, a constellation of old and new metal. A map, a tracing of connections and a guide to looking at things from different angles.

How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? How do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland? In the powerful and daring essays in Constellations Sinéad Gleeson does that very thing. All of life is within these pages, from birth to first love, pregnancy to motherhood, terrifying sickness, old age and loss to death itself. Throughout this wide-ranging collection she also turns her restless eye outwards delving into work, art and our very ways of seeing. In the tradition of some of our finest life writers, and yet still in her own spirited, generous voice, Sinéad takes us on a journey that is both uniquely personal and yet universal in its resonance. Here is the fierce joy and pain of being alive.

'An absolutely astonishing, brilliant and beautiful book.' Kate Mosse, author of The Burning Chambers

'Absolutely extraordinary and life-enhancing.' Daisy Buchanan, author of How to be Grown-up.

About this title

About the Author

Sinéad Gleeson is a writer of essays, criticism and fiction. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Winter Papers and Gorse, and a story of hers was in Being Various: New Irish Short Stories. She is the editor of three short story anthologies, including The Long Gaze Back: an Anthology of Irish Women Writers and The Glass Shore: Short Stories by Women Writers from the North of Ireland, both of which won Best Irish Published Book at the Irish Book Awards. Sinéad has worked as an arts critic and broadcaster and has presented The Book Show on RTÉ Radio 1. She lives in Dublin.

From the Back Cover

‘Utterly magnificent. Raw, thought-provoking and galvanising; this is a book every woman should read.’ Eimear McBride, author of A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing

‘Breathtaking and sublime.’ Nina Stibbe, author of Dear Nina

‘Constellations is glitteringly brilliant . . . Political, poetic, tender and angry, a remarkable book and an astonishing debut.’ Robert MacFarlane, author of Landmarks

‘Sinéad Gleeson has written one of those rare things, a wise and compassionate book full of truth and humility . . . a must-read and a masterpiece.’ Kit DeWaal, author of My Name Is Leon

‘Intimate, yet universal, the most powerful essays I’ve read in many years.’ John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

‘In gorgeous prose, Sinéad takes you deep inside her heart and bones. And you emerge never quite seeing a woman’s body in the same way again. Reading the book has made me a better doctor. Truly remarkable.’ Dr Rachel Clarke, author of Your Life in My Hands

Edition details

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509892737
• ISBN 13: 9781509892730
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304